At 9:00 p.m. on Monday, January 12, Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber will have their TV broadcast debut on the National Geographic Channel with their award-winning nonfiction film Full Battle Rattle. FBR is a doc about life inside the US Army's "Iraq Simulation" in California's Mojave Desert. The film tells the story of a very real war, but before soldiers go overseas to that war, they go through a rotation in a virtual Iraqi town that the US Army has spent a billion dollars building for the purpose of feeling what it's really like over there. This fictional place is populated with hundreds of Iraqi role-players hired to live there and in three week rotations, they encounter groups of enlisted men and women before they deploy to the real McCoy. Moss and Gerber follow one of these battalions through a complete rotation and it's a wild ride.
David Edelstein of New York Magazine calls it, "An indelible vision of modern war. Altmanesque tragicomedy," a very fine and brilliantly concise take on what these filmmakers meant to do. Also this from Richard Woodward from the Wall Street Journal: "No documentary I have seen better portrays the mutual suspicions and resentments of Americans and Iraqis. I still don't know whether to laugh or cry." I actually laughed a lot--the film is hilarious in the most surreal way. As well, I shed a tear watching young soldiers board a plane, leaving frightened families behind as they go off to battle. It's an artfully done film in every way.
Moss and Gerber had their festival debut last February at the Berlin International Film Festival, won the Special Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin last March and released theatrically at New York's Film Forum in July. Their latest festival appearances have been in Amsterdam at the IDFA, at Sheffield in the UK and at the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba last month. Quite a year, guys, wow.
Check back on their web site for more festival screenings and news of an impending DVD release some time this year. Read my in-depth interview with the filmmakers on the Shooting People site by clicking here. And be sure to tune in to NatGeo on Monday!
I would like to say that as a mother of a soldier who participated in the simulation program at Medina Wasl that your film brought to life for me the the possible realities of what my son faces over there. The film did provide some humor and it brought a great deal of tears as well. The most I appreciated from this film is that you did NOT edit out the opinions of actual Iraqis who feel grateful that we are there and acknowledge that though the some Iraqi's ask for Americans to leave they are also terrified to say otherwise for fear of reprisal. They are also being terrorized by the insurgents who break into their homes and beat and kill them and claim it is only being done because of Americans. Your feelings against the war are yours and it was refreshing to see filmmakers not put their own interpretations into the editing. Thank you.
Posted by: Jacqi French | January 20, 2009 at 09:18 AM
Wow, how cool. Thanks for writing, Brian. I care. :)
Posted by: Pamela | January 13, 2009 at 02:41 PM
Believe it or not. I actually wrote 300+ roles for the town of Medina Wasl. I was involved in the "Character Development" for the town FYI "Who cares, I know"
Posted by: Brian Ellis | January 13, 2009 at 01:34 PM